Always There
by TinyDancer14
Summary: She wanted to know when she could meet her mother. He didn't have the heart to tell her, "Never."


**I wasn't going to post this because it breaks my heart, lol. I seriously made myself cry writing it. I planned on writing something much more fluffy and romantic and yet this is what turned out of it. It's a really really short one-shot that I was going to delete, but then didn't because I liked it too much. Go ahead, read on.**

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Always There

Troy Bolton watched his daughter step off of the school bus and wave her friends goodbye. She had a perplexed expression on her face, a state of confusion that Troy couldn't decipher. When she walked up the driveway and into the house, she tossed her backpack next to the couch and greet her father with a hug, to which Troy gratefully accepted, kissing the side of her head. He asked her how school was, if she had any homework, what the plans were for the next day and so on. But she only answered them with one-word simplistic reasons, wanting to get on to her most prominent question.

"Daddy," The seven-year-old addressed her father in a serious tone, climbing on his lap. "Can I ask you a question?"

Troy smiled. "Sure, Lexi. What do you want to know?"

Troy was used to the seven-year-old inquiring questions he got everyday. Why was the sky blue and not purple? If you talk to a dog, can he understand you? Why did it have to be cold to snow? What was wrong with a little flurry in the summer?

But he would never be prepared for what she was about to ask him.

"When can I meet my Mommy?"

Troy's heart sank to his stomach. "W-What honey?"

Alexis Bolton began to explain. "My friend Cara met her Dad this weekend. Her parents got divorced when she was a baby and then she never saw him again. So her Mommy took her to see him on Saturday and she was so happy! I wanna meet my Mom, Daddy."

"Your Mom and I didn't get divorced, sweetheart." Troy tried to contain himself.

"I know. But when Daddy? When can I see her?"

He didn't have the heart to tell her the truth. So he bent it in a way.

"You can't meet her now." He gulped. "You'll meet her someday, a long, long time from now, when you're very very old. Then you'll be ready to see her and... she'll be ready to see you."

Alexis thought for a moment. "Does she love me?"

Troy's heart nearly broke into a million pieces, recalling the endless hours of love and laughter his wife spent with their daughter. "She loves you very much."

"Does she love you?"

"I hope so," Troy forced a smile. "I love her."

Just when he thought she had no more questions about the matter, she came up with the one he couldn't bear to answer.

"Is Mommy coming back?"

Tears sprung to his eyes. "No sweetheart. She's not coming back."

"Well if she loves us, then why can't she just come back?"

"She didn't have a choice... she had to leave."

Alexis brought her small hand up to her father's cheek. "Daddy, why are you crying?"

"I miss her so much, honey. And it's not fair." Troy explained.

"You can call her, can't you? Call her on the phone."

Troy had to laugh at the simplicity of her thinking. But he took her up on her advice.

Later that night, when Alexis was tucked up in bed sound asleep, Troy decided to confront her for the first time in five years. He took a deep shaky breath as he spoke her name for the first time in _five years_.

"Gabriella..."

"_Troy? I haven't heard from you in such a long time._"

"I love you, Gabriella. And I miss you so much."

"_Oh Troy, I love you too. And I miss you and Alexis. How is she, by the way? Still beautiful as ever?_"

"Of course she is. She looks like you." Troy smiled blissfully. "She wants to meet you."

"_She does? What did you tell her?_"

"I told her she couldn't. Not for a long time anyway." He began to cry softly again. "I told her she could meet you when she was really old."

"_That was smart of you. You should bring her here sometime, though. I would love to see her._"

"I can't bring her here, Gabriella. It's too hard."

"_You're going to have to tell her sometime._"

"Tell her what?" Troy yelled at no one. "Tell her that you're dead?"

"_Well you don't have to put it like that._"

Troy gripped her headstone against his body and sobbed. "It's not fair! Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't you have just stayed with us? Why did you have to leave?"

"_It wasn't my choice, Troy. You know I wouldn't want to be anywhere else_."

His shoulders shook as he sobbed and heaved against the cold marble of the stone. "I just can't take it. Every day, I look at her and she looks just like you and it hurts! It reminds me of how beautiful you were and I just want to sit there and cry. And I know she deserves to know about you, but I just can't tell her! It's way too hard!"

"_I know it's hard, Troy. But I'm always with you, don't you know that? I am always there. I'm with you and I'm with Alexis. All the time. Don't be afraid. It's okay to talk to me._"

"People think I'm crazy when I do."

"_Who cares what people think? We never did. I'm with you, Troy. Alexis, too._"

Troy nodded miserably. "I love you. So much I can't let go."

"_I know you do. And it's okay._"

He said his goodbyes with his late wife and headed back home to his sleeping daughter. When he arrived home, he snuck into her room and found she wasn't sleeping at all. Merely lying awake in bed, insomnia racking her body.

"Daddy, where did you go? I can't sleep!"

"Hey, hey, it's okay." He settled her back into her bed and sat beside her. "I went to see your Mom. She loves and misses you and wants to see you sometime."

The little girl's eyes went wide. "She does?"

Troy nodded. "But most importantly, she's always with you, honey. She's in you heart all the time."

"She is? Can I talk to her?"

Troy held back a sob. "Of course you can."

As he left his daughter's room that night, his heart smiled as he heard Alexis whispering quietly to Gabriella.

"Mommy? Can you hear me? It's me, Alexis. I just wanted to say that I love you. Oh, and can you please make sure that my Daddy gets happy again? Thank you."

And Troy could almost hear his wife agree, saying, "_I love you too, sweetheart. I'll do my best._"


End file.
